


Secrets, Crushes and Bad Pizza Toppings

by Lady_Lombax



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, I think I may have a problem, Identity Reveal, Marinette has a revelation, Terrible pizza topping choices, This is six and a bit pages longer that it was meant to be, Three fics in two days is a bit much, someone please stop me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 00:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5143982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Lombax/pseuds/Lady_Lombax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Marinette discovers Chat Noir's identity, it leads her on surprisingly short journey as to which side of him she truly loves. Turns out she knew which one all along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secrets, Crushes and Bad Pizza Toppings

She didn't mean to see. If she had know, she would have turned around and found another alley. She would have slingshot herself away. She hadn't _known._

  
But now she did.

  
Marinette arrived at home, stunned and disoriented with her whole world flipped upside down.

_  
Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste._

* * *

Marinette spent the rest of the day laying on her bedroom couch trying to wrap her head around the revelation of Chat's secret identity. The idea that someone as perfect as Adrien was the same person she bantered with, who flirted at every opportunity, who called her 'Princess' as a civilian and 'My Lady' as his partner, who she'd once seen eat an entire extra-large anchovy and sardine pizza by himself.

_  
'That was disgusting.'_ Marinette hummed to herself as she mentally went over everything she knew about Adrien. Which thinking about it, was both a lot and rather creepy of her.

  
"Oh my God, I'm a fangirl stalker!" Marinette flung her arm over her arms as Tikki floated next to her.

  
"Marinette! Calm down!" Tikki stroked her Ladybug's cheek as Marinette peeked out her for behind her arm.

  
"Tikki! I have been stalking Chat! I'm creepy! I have his schedule on a pull down poster, for goodness sake!" Marinette sat up and rubbed her eyes. She blinked blearily into the room and sighed. All the little things about Adrien she had never thought much of before were now giant neon signs that pointed to his secret identity as Chat Noir. His hair, his love of any type of fish food, that smirk when he thought no one was looking, the way he would walk when he was angry.

  
That.

Goddamn.

Smile.

  
Thank god for the final week of Spring Holidays.

* * *

Interacting with Chat was surprisingly normal when they met up for patrol a few days later. Chat was his normal flirtatious self and it was easy to fall in their typical banter. She ran without care, trusting Chat to catch her should she misstep as she watched out for her partner.

  
Chat was Chat. He wasn't the guy she admittedly had been putting on pedestal. He wasn't the Adrien she thought he was. He wasn't the cute guy from school. He was just Chat.

  
Didn't explain why her heart raced when he smiled at her.

* * *

The final week of the holidays passed and lessons resumed. For the first time in history, even Marinette was shocked when she managed to give a legible smile and a understandable "Good Morning" when Adrien greeted her and Alya. Not even a hint of red made it to her cheeks.

  
"Marinette, look at you. What changed?" Alya grinned slyly at her friend and nudged her while keeping her voice low.

  
"I don't know. Guess it's just twigged he's not actually perfect and he is just a person." Marinette shrugged. Afterall, she couldn't tell Alya that she hadn't seen Perfect Adrien at all. Just a civilian, more polite version of Chat Noir that she happened to go to school with.

  
Alya blinked at her friend and raised her eyebrows. "So you're not crushing on him anymore?"

  
"I don't know."

  
She still avoided him for most of the week but when she had to interact with him, it was okay. She didn't back slide into shy stammering Marinette and actually was able to hold a conversation like a normal person. Adrien, on his part, looked a bit please whenever she managed to navigate a chat without stuttering.

  
It was like the celebrity crush had finally gone.

* * *

She removed Adrien's schedule from her pull down that weekend. Marinette made a note to get it burned or shredded. She put up a new one that only had her own due dates and important events. Adrien's birthday made it onto the calendar but nothing else regarding him was there.

  
Surprisingly, the anniversary of the day Chat Noir and Ladybug first meet was the first thing to be put on the calendar. The day they had taken down their first Akuma together went on second.

  
Anything else regarding Adrien was removed from her room. The alerts on her phone for his fashion shows and other public events were deleted. She unpicked the name _Adrien_ from the small stuffed rabbit she had been planning on giving him after the holidays as an Easter present. It would make a nicer gift for Manon.

  
Marinette changed her backdrop on her computer to a picture from Alya's blog last. It was one of Ladybug and Chat Noir suspended in free fall, both with wild grins on their faces. It had been taken by a civilian only a few weeks ago and the sense of excitement was as clear as day in both of them.

  
Marinette sat and admired the sleek lines of Chat's body in a way she would never have done if he were real. The way he was always just a split second behind her, ready to catch her should she falter and willing to follow where she led, was a constant sense of comfort.

  
Tikki gave an approximation of a thumbs up in approval.

  
Marinette smiled at the screen and clicked save.

* * *

Marinette wasn't sure how it happened. Perhaps it was Chat's Bad Luck affecting her. Maybe her own Luck had temporarily decided to take a break. Or maybe it was just Fate's way of saying " **STOP AVOIDING HIM**."

  
No matter how it had happened, Marinette and Adrien were now partners for a small physics presentation. Hopefully, her luck would hold out to make this one better than the last.

  
Adrien spun in his seat and grinned amenably at her. "Did you want to go to the Library to begin the presentation? Physics is my favourite and I want to get this started."

  
Marinette grinned back. "Sure, physics isn't my strongest subject but I'm sure I can keep up with you." She ended her sentence with a friendly wink and started to pack away her bag, completely missing both the pleased smile and streak of red on Adrien's face.

  
It was easy to work with Adrien. She knew this. Marinette trusted him to lead her in the right direction academically just as she did with him at night. Together they worked with the ease of two people who had done so thousand times before. Only this time it was a physics presentation that was the enemy, not  an Akuma victim.

  
Adrien looked please and surprised with how well they had done together and Marinette had to hold herself back from the instinctive response to fist bump when their presentation went off without a hitch.

  
It was the best presentation in the class.

* * *

Ladybug and Char Noir were dealing with yet another Akuma when she realised just how much she lik.. no ... loved him.

  
There was no great moment of triumph, no fateful injury that caused her to yell in horror, no anything.

  
Just a timeless split second when her eyes met his as they fist bumped. He winked, bid his goodbye with a cheeky, "My Lady", and ran off before his transformation wore off.

  
Ladybug helped the Akuma victim back to the safety and made her way home. Marinette dropped onto the couch she had lamented about the revelation only a few week prior and allowed herself to voice the last realisation she would hopefully have for a while.

  
"I've fallen in love with that damn Alley cat."

  
The removal of her frankly stalker-like crush on his civilian self, which was now plainly just a mask in itself, had shown her just how much she valued his freer half. He was more natural as Chat, more at peace with himself and held a confidence that he just couldn't fake in his everyday life.

  
She still liked the quiet half but it didn't feel right to just love that part of him when she knew just how much of himself was truly in Chat Noir's personality. She didn't doubt for a second that he had yet more parts to him that she didn't know but she did know that she would choose to love those parts as well as the parts she already adored.

  
It wasn't the fairy tale romance she had dreamed of nor the passionate realisation she had read about. It was more like the quiet days in the bakery when her parents just looked at each other and knew that the person they were looking at loved them in all the right ways. It was a slow gentle love and it was everything she never knew she wanted.

  
"Guess you did catch me after all Kitty."

* * *

A month had passed since that fateful day in the Alley and Marinette decided to reveal her knowledge. It wasn't fair for her to know who he was and not reveal herself.

  
Tikki had argued against it but she quickly back down when Marinette presented all the facts to her. The bottom line was that they were partners and they trusted each other to the end. Sure she was terrified what Adrien would say when he discovered his beloved 'Lady' was just plain old Marinette but that bridge would crossed when they came to it.

  
Ladybug met Chat Noir on their favourite rooftop. It was one of the highest in Paris and practically guaranteed privacy for the Lucky Duo. She had brought bottles of soda and homemade Chinese dishes in Tupperware boxes for them to enjoy.

She'd just finish unpacking when Chat popped up behind her. "Well, well, well, My Lady. What do we have here? Dinner for two? You shouldn't have." He grinned cheekily at her and the Lady of Luck rolled her eyes good naturedly as he took slow rolling strides across the roof.

  
"Think of this as a reward Chat. No patrol tonight. That and I need to talk to you about something important." Ladybug passed him a box of Liáng cài and opened two warmer boxes of chǎo má shi and spring rolls for them to share.

  
Chat's eyes widened and his face went tight. "My Lady?" His belt tail curled around him and his hands clutched the box tightly.

  
Ladybug looked at him and her face relaxed, giving him a soft look before morphing into a sly secretive grin. "Relax, Kitty. It's nothing that can't wait and it's not bad. Just have a seat and enjoy the food." She sat on a raised concrete wall that gave a beautiful view of Paris with the Eiffel Tower just behind the dark water of the River Seine that bubbled along in front of them.

  
Chat opened his own box of food, took his own seat next to Ladybug and accepted the cutlery given to him before digging into the food.

  
"This is good!" He grinned at his partner as his shoulder relaxed and legs began to swing lightly.

  
"I should hope so." Ladybug noted as she took a drink, her body relaxed and face open as she smiled wryly at him. "It took me all afternoon to cook it."

  
Chat twisted towards her in shock, "No." He gasped out, a grin crawling its way across his face.

  
The two heroes fell into a familiar banter which lasted until they ran out words to say and the food disappeared. It was a comfortable silence, one only found between  the closest of friends and trusted ones.

_  
Too bad._ Ladybug thought wryly as she contemplated her plan. _I hope this doesn't backfire._ "You know, I had the most embarrassing celebrity crush on Adrien Agreste for a while." She watched out of the corner of her eye as Chat snapped his head towards her, eyes wide and cheeks flushing.

  
"You had... yo...What?"

  
It was all she could do not to laugh. She did allow herself a humour filled smirk and raised her eyebrows. "Oh yeah. Really embarrassing. My friend teased me for weeks about it and I was forever stumbling about and stammering. I built him up inside my head like he's some kind of  perfect person." She leaned back casually and kept her eyes on the horizon. Out of the corner of her eye, Chat slumped, his shoulders pulled in and his face closed down into a mask she had seen far too many times as Adrien. "Good thing I got over that."

  
Chat seemed to flinch lightly and looked over at her though his eyelashes. "What changed?" His voice was soft and fragile and it pained Ladybug have done this to her beloved Chat Noir. But hopefully that would change.

  
"Two things. One. Once I let go of that dream, I discovered I had feelings for someone else." Chat flinched at that. "Two. It's really hard to put someone on a pedestal when you've watched them scoff an extra large anchovy and sardine pizza in under ten minutes. Anchovies are still gross by the way, Adrien." She smirked and raised an eyebrow as Chat drew himself up and pouted at her.

  
"Anchovies are awesome and that pizza was.... Wait." He looked at her with wide eyes. "You know who I am?" His eyes were glistening and his face was an open book. His legs dropped limply and shoulders drooped.

Ladybug smiled softly at her kitty and released her transformation. This was the part of the plan that had the potential to go horribly wrong. She prayed she hadn't made the wrong choice. Tikki floated up and sat on her shoulder in a display of solidarity and support.

  
Chat had tensed up as he took in the face behind the Ladybug. "Marinette?" He reached towards her, fingertips grazing her cheek as she waited patiently for his mind to catch up with his eyes. His own transformation dropped, leaving Adrien and a black cat-like kwami behind. Adrien still looked shell-shocked as the black kwami began to cackle.

  
"Oh this is priceless! They're the same girl! The two girls you're crus...AHK!" Adrien snapped out of it quickly and grabbed the kwami, his face turning redder every second as he hissed at his companion.

  
"Don't you dare Plagg!"

  
Marinette giggled and Tikki rolled her eyes. "Good to see you again Plagg. Still tormenting your chosen? What's it this time? Fresh fish?"

  
Adrien looked up with wide eyes and a sheepish smile as he use his free hand to run his hand through his hair. "It's Camembert actually."

  
Fluttering over, Tikki patted his cheek gently then tugged Plagg out of Adrien's hand. "Don't you worry. He does it to all of his chosen. Now Plagg and I are going to catch up while you two have a talk." Tikki dragged Plagg over to the edge of the roof, close enough so the teens could get to them if things went wrong but far enough for privacy.

  
Adrien looked at Marinette as she watched the two kwami with a gentle smile. "How did you find out?"

  
Marinette turned towards her fellow Miraculous Holder and sighed. "About a month ago, you transformed in an alley way that I had just swung into. Neither of us noticed but when I looked down to see of anyone was there, you just changed back. I was really shocked my partner and one of my best friends was the guy I had a huge crush on at school. Took me about a week for me to see it honestly." She shrugged her shoulders helplessly and met her friend's eyes. "After a while, the more I looked at you, the less I saw of the guy I thought I had a crush on. You were just my kitty after a bit, no matter what clothes you wore or which mask you had on."

  
Adrien blinked at Marinette. He had never twigged her to be the one that found out his whole 'Adrien Agreste' personality was a mask. He shook his head. "I don't why I never picked up on the fact my Lady sat behind me every day. I mean looking back, it's so obvious."

  
Marinette nodded in agreement. "Tikki, my kwami, mentioned it's part of the magic. It glamours you enough the people can pick out distinct features but unless you take off the mask right in front of them, you can't tell who it is. I had the same reaction." Marinette gave a small smile that looked as if it may fall to pieces at any moment. "Disappointed it's me?"

  
Adrien gaped at her then shook his head. "NO! Surprised? Yes. Thankful? Yes. But never disappointed." Adrien took her hand and watched as a streak of red made its home on Marinette's cheeks. "Part of the reason I should have know Ladybug was you was when we went up against the Evillustrator and you were so brave that day and you help us get out of there. I am honestly glad it is you, my Lady." With those final words, Adrien gave a devastatingly Chat Noir grin and bowed over her hand.

  
Marinette laughed at his antics, ignoring how her cheeks darkened and her ears burned. When she stopped, Adrien was looking at her with something she had only seen glimmers of in Chat Noir. Taking a risk and drawing on her Ladybug courage, she had to ask.

  
"Do you really have a crush on me? Like as Marinette?"

  
Adrien went a shade of red she had never seen on either sides of his persona and shifted uncomfortably. He looked as if he wanted to reach back and take comfort in his tail but remembered he was Adrien , not Chat Noir at that moment.

  
"Yeah, I do. I'm sorry. I know you don't like me anymore..."

  
That was as far as he got before Marinette slipped off the wall and stepped between his legs, closing the distance between them immensely. She smiled widely and her eyes shined with a secret.

  
"The Adrien Agreste I had an embarrassingly large celebrity crush on doesn't exist anywhere outside my own head and on billboards. The guy I fell for now is the greatest guy I could possibly ask for. He's always had my back, follows my lead into a fight and is always ready to catch me." Adrien's eyes widened and he began to grin, "He's brave, loyal, smart and doesn't look too bad in that leather cat suit of his. He's my partner first and foremost and probably the one person I will always trust unconditionally. Even if he does flirt really badly and had terrible taste in pizza toppings." Marinette watched happily as Adrien let out a laugh before swooping in and claiming her lips between his.

  
They moved together as they always did and Marinette moaned as she tasted the stickiness from the soda earlier and hint of spices from the food. Their lips were smooth and without thought, Marinette had her hands clutching Adrien's jacket while Adrien's hands made their places on her waist and cheek.

  
They both pulled back reluctantly and pressing their foreheads together, Marinette and Adrien gasped for air in sync.

  
"I still say that pizza was delicious but you taste way nicer, my Lady."

  
Marinette let out a disbelieving giggle before closing the gap between them and stopping Adrien's bad pick lines in the best possible way.  


End file.
